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Bowers & Wilkins reveals flagship P9 Signature headphones

The new £700 over-ear headphones promise to be the company's “best sounding and most luxurious headphones to date”, and will be available with a standard 3.5mm connection or a Lightning cable.

Just weeks after introducing the P7 Wireless headphones, Bowers & Wilkins has unveiled the premium P9 Signature to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary.

Engineered by the same team responsible for the high-end 800 Series D3 loudspeaker, the P9 Signature are Bower & Wilkins’ largest over-ear headphones, and claim to show off everything that B&W has learnt about acoustics and design in its 50-year history.

Similar to other headphones in the B&W line-up, the P9 Signature works more like a traditional speaker, thanks to proper suspension that allows the driver to move more freely for better frequency response.

However, the 40mm drive unit that sits in each earcup has been redesigned from the ground up, and is angled slightly inwards to allow for a more natural listening experience.

It claims to place the sound further in front of the listener than other headphones manage, bringing the headphone experience closer to that of a pair of stereo speakers.

They’re also a closed back design, but aim to deliver the spaciousness more usually associated with open back cans.

More after the break

Elsewhere, the brown Saffiano leather covered headband isn’t just sturdy, but is also completely decoupled from each earcup to prevent unwanted vibrations distorting the sound. It’s a first for the company’s headphones and thinking borrowed from the latest generation of the 800 Series Diamond loudspeakers.

The sturdy Saffiano leather continues down onto the ear cups, with softer leather covering the memory foam earpads and headband cushion. This should ensure good noise isolation as well as a comfortable listening experience.

Like the rest of the B&W headphones line, the aluminium arms fold in to make the P9 Signature more easily portable, and come with their own suede-like Alacantara carry case to protect them on the go.

Comments

B&W

For a flagship headphone that'll probably be used at home far more than on the road, it should of been an open-back design for increased spaciousness (sorely missing in many closed-back designs) IMO...and I have a pair of P7s for home headphone use.

Erm...

No balanced connection

At least my Shure SRH 1840 headphones have a balanced connection. Good headphones need the ability for the cable to be upgraded to balanced XLR or dual 3.5mm cable. B & W really missed a good opportunity.